Agentic AI in SOCs: A Solution to SOAR's Unfulfilled Promises

Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response SOAR was introduced with the promise of revolutionizing Security Operations Centers SOCs through automation, reducing manual workloads and enhancing efficiency. However, despite three generations of technology and 10 years of advancements, SOAR...

Transportation Companies Hit by Cyberattacks Using Lumma Stealer and NetSupport Malware

Transportation and logistics companies in North America are the target of a new phishing campaign that delivers a variety of information stealers and remote access trojans RATs. The activity cluster, per Proofpoint, makes use of compromised legitimate email accounts belonging to transportation an...

CISA Flags Critical Ivanti vTM Vulnerability Amid Active Exploitation Concerns

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA on Tuesday added a critical security flaw impacting Ivanti Virtual Traffic Manager vTM to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities KEV catalog, based on evidence of active exploitation. The vulnerability in question is CVE-2024-7593 CVSS...

Necro Android Malware Found in Popular Camera and Browser Apps on Play Store

Altered versions of legitimate Android apps associated with Spotify, WhatsApp, and Minecraft have been used to deliver a new version of a known malware loader called Necro. Kaspersky said some of the malicious apps have also been found on the Google Play Store. They have been cumulatively...

U.S. Proposes Ban on Connected Vehicles Using Chinese and Russian Tech

The U.S. Department of Commerce DoC said it's proposing a ban on the import or sale of connected vehicles that integrate software and hardware made by foreign adversaries, particularly that of the People's Republic of China PRC and Russia. "The proposed rule focuses on hardware and software...

Discover Latest Ransomware Tactics and Zero Trust Strategies in This Expert Webinar

Ransomware is no longer just a threat; it's an entire industry. Cybercriminals are growing more sophisticated, and their tactics are evolving rapidly. This persistent danger is a major concern for business leaders. But there's good news: you don't have to be defenseless. What if you could gain a...

Kaspersky Exits U.S., Automatically Replaces Software With UltraAV, Raising Concerns

Antivirus vendor Kaspersky has formally begun pulling back its offerings in the U.S., migrating existing users to UltraAV, effective September 19, 2024, ahead of its formal exit at the end of the month. "Kaspersky antivirus customers received a software update facilitating the transition to...

The SSPM Justification Kit

SaaS applications contain a wealth of sensitive data and are central to business operations. Despite this, far too many organizations rely on half measures and hope their SaaS stack will remain secure. Unfortunately, this approach is lacking and will leave security teams blind to threat preventio...

New Octo2 Android Banking Trojan Emerges with Device Takeover Capabilities

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new version of an Android banking trojan called Octo that comes with improved capabilities to conduct device takeover DTO and perform fraudulent transactions. The new version has been codenamed Octo2 by the malware author, Dutch security firm ThreatFabr...

Telegram Agrees to Share User Data With Authorities for Criminal Investigations

In a major policy reversal, the popular messaging app Telegram has announced it will give users' IP addresses and phone numbers to authorities in response to valid legal requests in an attempt to rein in criminal activity on the platform. "We've made it clear that the IP addresses and phone numbe...

THN Cybersecurity Recap: Last Week's Top Threats and Trends (September 16-22)

Hold on tight, folks, because last week's cybersecurity landscape was a rollercoaster! We witnessed everything from North Korean hackers dangling "dream jobs" to expose a new malware, to a surprising twist in the Apple vs. NSO Group saga. Even the seemingly mundane world of domain names and cloud...

Why 'Never Expire' Passwords Can Be a Risky Decision

Password resets can be frustrating for end users. Nobody likes being interrupted by the 'time to change your password' notification – and they like it even less when the new passwords they create are rejected by their organization's password policy. IT teams share the pain, with resetting passwor...

Critical Flaw in Microchip ASF Exposes IoT Devices to Remote Code Execution Risk

A critical security flaw has been disclosed in the Microchip Advanced Software Framework ASF that, if successfully exploited, could lead to remote code execution. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-7490, carries a CVSS score of 9.5 out of a maximum of 10.0. It has been described as a...

Discord Introduces DAVE Protocol for End-to-End Encryption in Audio and Video Calls

Popular social messaging platform Discord has announced that it's rolling out a new custom end-to-end encrypted E2EE protocol to secure audio and video calls. The protocol has been dubbed DAVE, short for Discord's audio and video end-to-end encryption "E2EE A/V". As part of the change introduced...

New PondRAT Malware Hidden in Python Packages Targets Software Developers

Threat actors with ties to North Korea have been observed using poisoned Python packages as a way to deliver a new malware called PondRAT as part of an ongoing campaign. PondRAT, according to new findings from Palo Alto Networks Unit 42, is assessed to be a lighter version of POOLRAT aka SIMPLESE...

Chinese Hackers Exploit GeoServer Flaw to Target APAC Nations with EAGLEDOOR Malware

A suspected advanced persistent threat APT originating from China targeted a government organization in Taiwan, and possibly other countries in the Asia-Pacific APAC region, by exploiting a recently patched critical security flaw impacting OSGeo GeoServer GeoTools. The intrusion activity, which w...

Hacktivist Group Twelve Targets Russian Entities with Destructive Cyber Attacks

A hacktivist group known as Twelve has been observed using an arsenal of publicly available tools to conduct destructive cyber attacks against Russian targets. "Rather than demand a ransom for decrypting data, Twelve prefers to encrypt victims' data and then destroy their infrastructure with a...

LinkedIn Halts AI Data Processing in U.K. Amid Privacy Concerns Raised by ICO

The U.K. Information Commissioner's Office ICO has confirmed that professional social networking platform LinkedIn has suspended processing users' data in the country to train its artificial intelligence AI models. "We are pleased that LinkedIn has reflected on the concerns we raised about its...

Ukraine Bans Telegram Use for Government and Military Personnel

Ukraine has restricted the use of the Telegram messaging app by government officials, military personnel, and other defense and critical infrastructure workers, citing national security concerns. The ban was announced by the National Coordination Centre for Cybersecurity NCCC in a post shared on...

Europol Shuts Down iServer Phishing Scheme and Ghost Cybercrime Chat Platform

Law enforcement authorities have announced the takedown of an international criminal network that leveraged a phishing platform to unlock stolen or lost mobile phones. The phishing-as-a-service PhaaS platform, called iServer, is estimated to have claimed more than 483,000 victims globally, led by...

Passwordless AND Keyless: The Future of (Privileged) Access Management

In IT environments, some secrets are managed well and some fly under the radar. Here's a quick checklist of what kinds of secrets companies typically manage, including one type they should manage: Passwords x TLS certificates x Accounts x SSH keys ??? The secrets listed above are typically secure...

Iranian APT UNC1860 Linked to MOIS Facilitates Cyber Intrusions in Middle East

An Iranian advanced persistent threat APT threat actor likely affiliated with the Ministry of Intelligence and Security MOIS is now acting as an initial access facilitator that provides remote access to target networks. Google-owned Mandiant is tracking the activity cluster under the moniker...

Chrome Users Can Now Sync Passkeys Across Devices with New Google PIN Feature

Google on Thursday unveiled a Password Manager PIN to let Chrome web users sync their passkeys across Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS, and Android devices. "This PIN adds an additional layer of security to ensure your passkeys are end-to-end encrypted and can't be accessed by anyone, not even...

Critical Ivanti Cloud Appliance Vulnerability Exploited in Active Cyberattacks

Ivanti has revealed that a critical security flaw impacting Cloud Service Appliance CSA has come under active exploitation in the wild. The new vulnerability, assigned the CVE identifier CVE-2024-8963, carries a CVSS score of 9.4 out of a maximum of 10.0. It was "incidentally addressed" by the...

Wherever There's Ransomware, There's Service Account Compromise. Are You Protected?

Until just a couple of years ago, only a handful of IAM pros knew what service accounts are. In the last years, these silent Non-Human-Identities NHI accounts have become one of the most targeted and compromised attack surfaces. Assessments report that compromised service accounts play a key role...

Hackers Exploit Default Credentials in FOUNDATION Software to Breach Construction Firms

Threat actors have been observed targeting the construction sector by infiltrating the FOUNDATION Accounting Software, according to new findings from Huntress. "Attackers have been observed brute-forcing the software at scale, and gaining access simply by using the product's default credentials,"...

New Brazilian-Linked SambaSpy Malware Targets Italian Users via Phishing Emails

A previously undocumented malware called SambaSpy is exclusively targeting users in Italy via a phishing campaign orchestrated by a suspected Brazilian Portuguese-speaking threat actor. "Threat actors usually try to cast a wide net to maximize their profits, but these attackers are focused on jus...

New TeamTNT Cryptojacking Campaign Targets CentOS Servers with Rootkit

The cryptojacking operation known as TeamTNT has likely resurfaced as part of a new campaign targeting Virtual Private Server VPS infrastructures based on the CentOS operating system. "The initial access was accomplished via a Secure Shell SSH brute force attack on the victim's assets, during whi...

Healthcare's Diagnosis is Critical: The Cure is Cybersecurity Hygiene

Cybersecurity in healthcare has never been more urgent. As the most vulnerable industry and largest target for cybercriminals, healthcare is facing an increasing wave of cyberattacks. When a hospital's systems are held hostage by ransomware, it's not just data at risk — it's the care of patients...

Microsoft Warns of New INC Ransomware Targeting U.S. Healthcare Sector

Microsoft has revealed that a financially motivated threat actor has been observed using a ransomware strain called INC for the first time to target the healthcare sector in the U.S. The tech giant's threat intelligence team is tracking the activity under the name Vanilla Tempest formerly DEV-083...

GitLab Patches Critical SAML Authentication Bypass Flaw in CE and EE Editions

GitLab has released patches to address a critical flaw impacting Community Edition CE and Enterprise Edition EE that could result in an authentication bypass. The vulnerability is rooted in the ruby-saml library CVE-2024-45409, CVSS score: 10.0, which could allow an attacker to log in as an...

New "Raptor Train" IoT Botnet Compromises Over 200,000 Devices Worldwide

Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a never-before-seen botnet comprising an army of small office/home office SOHO and IoT devices that are likely operated by a Chinese nation-state threat actor called Flax Typhoon aka Ethereal Panda or RedJuliett. The sophisticated botnet, dubbed Raptor Tra...

Chinese Engineer Charged in U.S. for Years-Long Cyber Espionage Targeting NASA and Military

A Chinese national has been indicted in the U.S. on charges of conducting a "multi-year" spear-phishing campaign to obtain unauthorized access to computer software and source code created by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA, research universities, and private companies. Song...

Why Pay A Pentester?

The evolution of software always catches us by surprise. I remember betting against the IBM computer Deep Blue during its chess match against the grandmaster Garry Kasparov in 1997, only to be stunned when the machine claimed victory. Fast forward to today, would we have imagined just three years...

North Korean Hackers Target Energy and Aerospace Industries with New MISTPEN Malware

A North Korea-linked cyber-espionage group has been observed leveraging job-themed phishing lures to target prospective victims in energy and aerospace verticals and infect them with a previously undocumented backdoor dubbed MISTPEN. The activity cluster is being tracked by Google-owned Mandiant...

Chrome Introduces One-Time Permissions and Enhanced Safety Check for Safer Browsing

Google has announced that it's rolling out a new set of features to its Chrome browser that gives users more control over their data when surfing the internet and protects them against online threats. "With the newest version of Chrome, you can take advantage of our upgraded Safety Check, opt out...

GSMA Plans End-to-End Encryption for Cross-Platform RCS Messaging

The GSM Association GSMA, the governing body that oversees the development of the Rich Communications Services RCS protocol, on Tuesday, said it's working towards implementing end-to-end encryption E2EE to secure messages sent between the Android and iOS ecosystems. "The next major milestone is f...

Patch Issued for Critical VMware vCenter Flaw Allowing Remote Code Execution

Broadcom on Tuesday released updates to address a critical security flaw impacting VMware vCenter Server that could pave the way for remote code execution. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-38812 CVSS score: 9.8, has been described as a heap-overflow vulnerability in the DCE/RPC protocol. "A...

Google Chrome Switches to ML-KEM for Post-Quantum Cryptography Defense

Google has announced that it will be switching from KYBER to ML-KEM in its Chrome web browser as part of its ongoing efforts to defend against the risk posed by cryptographically relevant quantum computers CRQCs. "Chrome will offer a key share prediction for hybrid ML-KEM codepoint 0x11EC," David...

U.S. Treasury Sanctions Executives Linked to Intellexa Predator Spyware Operation

The U.S. Department of Treasury has imposed fresh sanctions against five executives and one entity with ties to the Intellexa Consortium for their role in the development, operation, and distribution of a commercial spyware called Predator. "The United States will not tolerate the reckless...

How to Investigate ChatGPT activity in Google Workspace

When you connect your organization's Google Drive account to ChatGPT, you grant ChatGPT extensive permissions for not only your personal files, but resources across your entire shared drive. As you might imagine, this introduces an array of cybersecurity challenges. This post outlines how to see...

Meta to Train AI Models Using Public U.K. Facebook and Instagram Posts

Meta has announced that it will begin training its artificial intelligence AI systems using public content shared by adult users across Facebook and Instagram in the U.K. in the coming months. "This means that our generative AI models will reflect British culture, history, and idiom, and that U.K...

Binance Warns of Rising Clipper Malware Attacks Targeting Cryptocurrency Users

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is warning of an "ongoing" global threat that's targeting cryptocurrency users with clipper malware with the goal of facilitating financial fraud. Clipper malware, also called ClipBankers, is a type of malware that Microsoft calls cryware, which comes with...

SolarWinds Issues Patch for Critical ARM Vulnerability Enabling RCE Attacks

SolarWinds has released fixes to address two security flaws in its Access Rights Manager ARM software, including a critical vulnerability that could result in remote code execution. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-28991, is rated 9.0 out of a maximum of 10.0 on the CVSS scoring system. It...

Google Fixes GCP Composer Flaw That Could've Led to Remote Code Execution

A now-patched critical security flaw impacting Google Cloud Platform GCP Composer could have been exploited to achieve remote code execution on cloud servers by means of a supply chain attack technique called dependency confusion. The vulnerability has been codenamed CloudImposer by Tenable...

North Korean Hackers Target Cryptocurrency Users on LinkedIn with RustDoor Malware

Cybersecurity researchers are continuing to warn about North Korean threat actors' attempts to target prospective victims on LinkedIn to deliver malware called RustDoor. The latest advisory comes from Jamf Threat Labs, which said it spotted an attack attempt in which a user was contacted on the...

From Breach to Recovery: Designing an Identity-Focused Incident Response Playbook

Imagine this... You arrive at work to a chaotic scene. Systems are down, panic is in the air. The culprit? Not a rogue virus, but a compromised identity. The attacker is inside your walls, masquerading as a trusted user. This isn't a horror movie, it's the new reality of cybercrime. The question...

Master Your PCI DSS v4 Compliance with Innovative Smart Approvals

The PCI DSS landscape is evolving rapidly. With the Q1 2025 deadline looming ever larger, businesses are scrambling to meet the stringent new requirements of PCI DSS v4.0. Two sections in particular, 6.4.3 and 11.6.1, are troublesome as they demand that organizations rigorously monitor and manage...

Apple Drops Spyware Case Against NSO Group, Citing Risk of Threat Intelligence Exposure

Apple has filed a motion to "voluntarily" dismiss its lawsuit against commercial spyware vendor NSO Group, citing a shifting risk landscape that could lead to exposure of critical "threat intelligence" information. The development was first reported by The Washington Post on Friday. The iPhone...

Cybercriminals Exploit HTTP Headers for Credential Theft via Large-Scale Phishing Attacks

Cybersecurity researchers have warned of ongoing phishing campaigns that abuse refresh entries in HTTP headers to deliver spoofed email login pages that are designed to harvest users' credentials. "Unlike other phishing webpage distribution behavior through HTML content, these attacks use the...